Here we go again: The latest Windows 10 patch, KB4532693, might stick you with an annoying bug. Some Windows users who have installed it have reported that their Windows user profile—and all the data and apps therein—weren’t loading when they logged in.
It’s alarming to suddenly have your data missing and all your OS settings set to defaults without warning, but the good news is, the bug is not deleting your profile or your data.
Instead, Windows renamed your normal user profile folder, then created and loaded a temporary user profile when your PC booted up. The original—but renamed—profile should still be visible by opening C: > Users and looking for a renamed file ending with “.ooo” or “.bak”. Your profile is inaccessible this way, but there are ways to get it back.
Reddit users have reported that restarting Windows a few times has fixed the bug, but there’s no agreement as to how many restarts are needed, nor why it works (or if it’s really what’s fixing the bug). The more consistent option is to just uninstall the update until Microsoft fixes everything.
- Open the Windows 10 Start menu and click the gear-shaped Settings icon.
- In the Settings window, go to Update & security > View Update History > Uninstall updates.
- Using the search box, search for “Windows 10 Autopilot update KB4532441.”
- Highlight the update then click the “Uninstall” button at the top of the list.
- Click “Yes”.
- Wait for the uninstallation to complete, and reboot your PC if required.
We have a longer guide for uninstalling Windows updates if you need more help. It also might be worth bookmarking that guide for when the next Windows update bug inevitably crops up.
